FARMINGTON – A new preschool will be opening up in Temple where students will have the opportunity to learn through a Montessori and nature-based environment.
Montessori education uses a prepared learning environment to offer children the freedom to find their own independence. This philosophy of teaching dates back to the early 1900s when Maria Montessori opened a school for the children of working class parents living in the slums of Rome.
The educational approach has become increasingly popular in the United States, reaching all the way to the woods of Temple. The recently established Learning And Nature Discovery (LAND) School, founded by Janis Lilly and Ryan Ellis, will use Montessori methods with an emphasis on outdoor education.
“Kids love routine. If they have a chunk of time that they know is time to work, they will work,” Lilly said Saturday at their free informational workshop at the Farmington Public Library.
“Work” at the age of 3 or 4, Lilly explained, is the job of playing. Through various activities set up around the children’s room of the library, Lilly and Ellis demonstrated the work they will provide at the school. Each activity or toy teaches a specific fundamental skill to the child-masked by entertainment-such as learning fine motor skills with a toy chicken paddle or learning object permanence by dropping wooden leaves into a tree-like bucket.
Lilly, who has a master’s degree in Montessori education, will be responsible for designing the first half of the school day: all indoors, playing with toys, eating a snack or having a morning meeting, while Ellis will lead the second half of the day, when students head outdoors.
“I grew up working on a 100-acre farm,” the central Maine native said.
Using the forests, fields and farm as a classroom, Ellis will teach the children how to care for plants, the environment and eventually animals. But the curriculum is highly flexible and individualized, Lilly added.
“If a kid wants to spend all day jumping off a platform, they can do that,” Ellis explained.
Flexibility is the LAND School’s main goal, both for students and for the parents. The couple plan on offering a sliding scale tuition as well as a variety of scheduling options to better meet the needs of local families.
“We don’t want to create any barriers for families,” Lilly said.
The school hopes to officially open its doors this fall, though workshops and weekend classes are being planned for the spring and summer months.
For more information the public is encouraged to attend the next free informational meeting from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on March 18 at the Farmington Public Library. They can also be found on facebook.
By barriers, you mean rules.
Sounds great! Seems as if more and more alternative schools are cropping up around the country. Is it an indication that there are more and more dissatisfied people with our current public educational system?
Matthew, he was specifically referring to not creating barriers for families in terms of tuition. Play-based preschool is not a new concept. They are not teaching middle school, this is for littles who learn through play. There are still rules around safety, respect, etc.
I don’t think they meant rules at all. What I think they’re saying is that they want to be able to accommodate the parents. I know what your saying about rules, Montessori schools are definitely free spirited, but some students just learn better in this kind of environment, not being cooped up at a desk or in a room all day. I worked at a Montessori schools while I was in college and found it quite fascinating. Good luck on this new adventure in my home town.
The “Montessori system” works for a lot of children; for others, it may not be structured enough. And then there’s the cost. No idea how “daycare” costs compare to Montessori fees. How does Head Start fit in the picture?>
“How much does Montessori cost? Median annual tuition by age level was as follows:” http://www.montessori-namta.org/FAQ/Montessori-Education/How-much-does-Montessori-cost
Years ago Thomas Sowell studied a broad range of successful schools. He concluded that success did not depend on philosophy or method (traditional or innovative, conservative or radical, religious,etc.) but on the quality and commitment of the people who ran the school.
This looks promising on the face of it.
By barriers we meant obstacles for families who are interested in our
program such as flexibile options for enrollment (3 day /5 day), before and after
sessions, year round programing and keeping costs low.
Rules for health and saftey will clearly always be followed as well as grace and
curtiosty. We hope to create a prepared enviorment where we as teachers
can spend more time saying “yes” than “no” by virture of precontemplated
design and preparation.
The best of luck to you. Starting kids off with an excitement for learning is so important. Many different a.pproaches are needed as all kids learn differently. I have watched my grandson flourish in a Montessori type school in southern Maine. His is a farm based school, right up his alley! Thank you for providing our parents another choice for their children.
Get ready…this will be HUGE!
Very exciting. Great opportunity. Look forward to hearing more Ryan and Janis.
This is a great opportunity for children in this area. I applaud these two exceptional individuals and this new venture.
Sounds nice! When will the school be open for a full tour?
Any chance of this program extending beyond Pre-K?
I tend to agree with Matt on his statement regarding the rules. I understand it was referring to tuition, however when you continue reading you see the statement about “If a kid wants to spend all day jumping off a platform, they can do that” That leads me to believe that the children are going to be allowed to do anything they want to do. Sorry, but children need structure and rules at a very young age — anyone who has spent any time around children should know this basic principle.
Will this be a licensed/accredited preschool facility? What are Ryan’s credentials? Checked out the Facebook page, curious to see pictures of the school and farm as there didn’t appear to be any, is there a website with photos?
I read up on Montessori some decades ago. I understood it to be about the appropriate materials presented in an appropriate environment (at any age/level). The adults are there to facilitate learning/interests, not impose themselves or ideas about what kids should be learning. Is this correct?
I believe people will like this kind of school. I have two grandsons who go to one it had been great for them. They have been going for three years. They do better then when they went to public school.
Let me clarify the intent behind the statement of “spending all day jumping off a platform”. Montessori teaches us that children will continue a task until it is learned at their very core and once learned it they will move onto the next extension based upon the essential tasks. We learn to control our hands so we can learn to crawl and then we learn to walk.
If a child is practicing balance and learning to control his gross and fine motor systems by engaging in repetitive motor sensory activities such as jumping off a platform, we recognize then many extensions in the environment we can offer him to learn. Such as grace and courtesy – we don’t jump on our friends, social normalization – we don’t jump off tables / we jump outdoors, physical boundaries – we don’t jump from too high, visual discimation – how high is too high to jump? Play is the work of children and children need to have the ability to be just that., children. By being free to explore and engage their world we do not create children who need to be forced to follow rules but children who understand the rules necessity and will abide by logical conclusion.
A Montessori classroom is a structured reflection of the flow of a day we expect of adults with highly individualized preparation on the part of the instructors reflecting where each child is as individual and where we would like to see him progress. A time to work, a time to socialize, a time to reflect. All this creates a basic principle of the expectation of the world of the child and their place within it.
We are hopeful to be able to grow the program beyond Pre-K but for the first year we will be offering early childhood as well as after school opportunities and camps for the older children reflective of interest.
We will be holding an open house late summer prior to accepting applications for the Fall!
Thank you all for the wonderful support! Please stop out an meet us at our next workshop on March 18 10-11 am at the Farmington Library.
Patb – yes! That is one of the core beliefs in Montessori. A directress should be like the hinge of a door, necessary yet hidden.
Local Parent – we’ve not published any at this stage as the raised bed gardens we installed are under a few feet of snow and the classroom space is not completed. This is why we’ve been bringing the materials to the library because we wanted to gather interest in the school before we undertook the next phase of construction. We will be fully licensed as required by law and hope to move quickly toward NAEYC accreditation as we feel they offer a more holistic look at early education excellence.
Ryan attended UMF and was a BHP for several years working within the Central Maine schools. While there is not a formal credentialing body for farm and forest instruction at this time, which is his specialty at LAND, he is completing training offered by Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife and University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
This is great news,
cant wait to visit the school.
duggan
I would love to enroll my children in this type of program rather than public education. Many schools in Europe are Montessori style. I think my kids would benefit from this learning style rather than standardized tests and “teaching to the test”. This is more hands-on learning with real world applications. So excited to see what happens and to find out more info.